


The Gift

by yuletide_archivist



Category: Elfquest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-02-04
Updated: 2009-02-04
Packaged: 2018-01-25 02:23:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1626524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuletide_archivist/pseuds/yuletide_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Story by Nadia</p><p>Skywise gives a gift to a very young Dewshine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Gift

**Author's Note:**

> Written for queenbookwench

 

 

It was a dark day in the Holt. Treestump was disconsolate. He'd sat for hours on the riverbank, holding his lifemate's body and weeping. Not Joyleaf nor Bearclaw, Clearbrook nor One Eye could coax him to let go. Only the gentle tugging of his golden-haired cub prompted him at last to relinquish his hold. "Papa, papa!" Dewshine had attached herself to his tunic, crying and pulling, until her father came back to himself and realized he still had someone to care for- a child, precious and alive. 

Treestump had crushed his daughter into a fierce hug, then turned and carried her from the scene of her mother's death. Joyleaf followed them, guiding her brother to his den, while Bearclaw and the others arranged to carry Rillfisher's body deep into the woods.

Now, the tribe gathered for the howl. The cubs were disturbed. For most of them, this was their first taste of death. Oh, certainly, they'd known the kill that followed the hunt, the loss of a wolf, and stories of past tragedies, but this was the first time that an elf had died; a mother, who could easily have been their own. Clearbrook pulled little Scouter into her arms. Young Nightfall crawled into Brownberry's lap. And even Cutter, who was almost an adolescent, moved closer to Joyleaf. 

Only Skywise sat apart. There was something strangely familiar about this sense of loss that hung over them like a cloud. Something that bit at the core of him. He knew that look in Treestump's eyes- the hopelessness. And little Dewshine's muffled sobs stirred a disquiet in him that wouldn't let him stay. For a while, he sat listening to the others tell stories of Rillfisher, and share her memory in open sends. But at the last, he slipped away unnoticed and crept back to his den.

There! Underneath the mound of sleep furs, buried in a corner... there it was. The tassel. He turned it over in his hands, ran his thumb along the stitching. In the distance, the tribe began to howl...

Some nights later... Skywise found Dewshine by the river. It was dusk, and she sat alone, tossing pebbles into the water. He sat beside her for a few moments, saying nothing. Then... "Clearbrook will wonder where you've gone." The little she-cub looked up at him with limpid blue eyes. 

"Why?" was all she said. He knew, instantly, her meaning.

Skywise sighed. He reached over and pulled her close. There was no answer for this. It wasn't humans and hatred, no brave sacrifice... just an accident. 

"I don't know," he finally replied, in all honesty. "Sometimes bad things just... happen. There is no why."

Dewshine sniffled and wiped at her eyes. "I miss my mama."

"Awww," Skywise held the little cub tight as she buried her face in his jerkin. He felt her shaking and the wetness of her tears. "Listen..." he whispered. "She misses you too. But... she isn't gone- not really. You need to look for her a different way."

Dewshine drew in a shaking breath and sat up. "How?" she asked.

Skywise smiled fondly. In a gesture of comfort, he ran his hand through her curls. "She can't be with you in the same way- but she's close to you all the same. Gone in body, but close in spirit. Look around you..."

Dewshine peered into the gathering darkness. "I don't see anything!"

The stargazer chuckled. "That's because you don't know what to look for. What do you remember most about your mother?"

Dewshine frowned, concentrating. Then... "The river!" she exclaimed. "Mama was always fishing!"

"That's right," Skywise smiled. "Did she ever teach you?"

"Yes!" Dewshine declared proudly. "She taught me how to string a net... and... and... and how to catch fish!"

"Well," Skywise grinned. "Aren't you smart then, to learn so fast! And how do you make a net?"

"With vines." The girlcub smiled back. "Mama used to cut the vines, and I used to catch them... and then we would sit in the grass and weave them together." 

"So you see then," the young hunter explained, "she is all around you- because you have so many good memories. You can feel her spirit wherever you go... in your den, in the grass where you used to sit, in the vines and the trees, and in the river." 

Dewshine bit her lip, thinking hard. "Are you sure?"

"Of course! Look at the river. What do you see?"

"I see... I see something!" Dewshine leapt to her feet and scampered down the bank. Carefully she reached between two stones and pulled out a scrap of material. 

"What have you got there, cub?"

The youngster clambered back up the bank and hurried back to where Skywise sat. She held up the small scrap for him to view. "A piece of mama's net!"

"By the high ones!" Skywise admired the small fragment. What were the chances? "You must keep it. It's a gift to let you know she's near. " Dewshine's eyes lit up in awe; she clutched the ragged netting close. "I'll tell you what else, " the stargazer winked, "there's another way she watches over you." He pulled the youngster into his lap. "Look up! Do you see that star?"

Dewshine squinted her eyes and tried to follow where he pointed. She found herself gazing at a small, bright star- yellow and distant from the others. It seemed to burn brighter for all that it was surrounded by darkness. "I see it," she whispered.

"Every star has a meaning," Skywise whispered back. "If you look just right, you can see Goodtree's rest, and our little stream, the wolf chasing the human hunter... and there's a star that I gave to Foxfur... all up above us. But that star that you see over here is special. Because tonight, I'm giving it to your mother. That is Rillfisher's star. Every night, when that star rises, you will know she's looking down on you. And it will be for always, because the stars never change."

"Mama's star..." 

Just then.. *Dewshine!* The wind shifted, and Skywise caught the scent of an approaching tribe member, even as the open send cut through both their thoughts. "Clearbrook wants you!" He patted her shoulder "You'd better get going before she comes down here and tans my hide for stealing you!" Dewshine giggled. She nuzzled Skywise briefly before running back up over the hill. 

The stargazer watched her go. For a long while, he sat quietly in the grass, listening to the sounds of the river. Then, he folded his arms behind his head, lay back and turned his eyes to the glittering night sky.

 


End file.
